


A Fur Pelt Can Only Do So Much

by OctolingO



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:28:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25472413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OctolingO/pseuds/OctolingO
Summary: When the group gets lost in Hebra, complications arise.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 146





	A Fur Pelt Can Only Do So Much

“Wild, you said you knew where we were.” Legend said with a shiver, though he was wearing his Magic Cape and holding his Fire Rod in front of him. 

“I do know where we—oh sweet Farosh.” Wild began to respond, cutting himself off with a curse, which earned a mildly disappointed look from Twilight.

“What’s wrong?” Sky asked. The Skyloftian had wrapped himself in his Sailcloth and was borrowing Legend’s Lantern for warmth. 

“Something’s interfering with the Slate, I can’t access the map.”

“So, we’re lost.” Four said, clutching his Lantern close to his chest. 

“Yeah.” Wild said guiltily. Twilight patted his protegé’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Cub, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“Yeah! I can still see for miles!” Wind said with a smile.

“That’s because you’re on Twilight’s shoulders, Wind.” Legend pointed out. It was true, Wind was perched atop Twilight and was covered in the Ordonian’s fur pelt. 

“Well, I still think Wild can get us out of here.” Wind said defiantly, crossing his arms. Twilight and Warriors laughed. 

“Thanks, Wind.” Wild said, though it was clear he was still nervous.

“Take your time and be careful, Cub.” Twilight assured him. 

“D-does you Slate have s-signal yet?” Hyrule practically begged. “It’s g-getting really c-cold.”

“I’m working on it, ‘Rule.” Wild said feverishly, hand flying over the screen of his Sheikah Slate. “C’mon, c’mon… YES!” Wild shouted, holding the Sheikah Slate triumphantly above him. 

“You got signal?” Time asked, looking over Wild’s shoulder. 

“Yeah! And we’re… right back where we started.” Wild said, voice changing from elated to defeated in a second.

“Right where we started?” Legend demanded, tromping over to Wild. “You mean you led us the wrong way?!” 

“I—yeah.” Wild stammered, looking down. Twilight opened his mouth, clearly about to chastise Legend and comfort Wild, but a blinking blue light on the Sheikah Slate distracted him. 

“Wild, what does that light mean?” He asked, gesturing. Wild looked at the Slate, jumping slightly when he saw the flashing light. 

“It means we really need to find shelter.” Wild said, voice reverting to his ‘knight voice’. The heroes gave him a confused look. “NOW.”

“Dinraal’s fire, I lost the signal again!” Wild shouted, pounding furiously on his Sheikah Slate. A blizzard had set in on the boys terrifyingly fast, filling Hebra with gusts of ice and snow. Wind had been taken off Twilight’s shoulders and was now being clutched tightly by the older hero, face buried in the fur pelt to keep snow out of his face. Four had begrudgingly done the same with Time, which had prompted snickering from Warriors and Legend—before Time had silenced them with a look. The blizzard was so thick that it limited their vision to six feet in front of them, sometimes less.

“Do you know where a refuge is?” Legend yelled.

“I think so!” Wild said. “There’s a cave ahead, follow me!”   
“It’s not like we have much of a choice.” Legend muttered, though he knew no one could hear him over the roaring wind.

15 minutes later, though it felt like hours, the heroes stumbled into a cave Wild had blasted open. 

“Nice job, Wild.” Time said. Wild nodded, only half listening (he was focusing on making a multitude of fires).

“Yeah. To be honest, I didn’t think you had it in you to get us out of that storm.” Legend said with a characteristic smirk. Wild scowled, throwing a pebble at Legend. 

“Um, I don’t want to ruin the moment,” Hyrule said uncertainly, “but where are Twilight and Wind?” 

The silence that followed Hyrule’s question was deafening. Wild broke it, by making a strangled sound deep in his throat and flinging himself towards the cave entrance. It took the combined strength of both Time and Warriors to hold him back.

“Wild, you can’t go out there.” Time said, trying (and failing) to remain calm. “You’ll either freeze or get lost.”

“But I left them out there!” Wild cried, struggling to break free of Time’s grip. 

“They’ll be okay.” Warriors said. “They’re heroes just like us.”

“But… I left them… all to die…” Wild mumbled, sagging against Time’s chest. 

“They won’t die.” Time assured him. “Twilight’s dealt with the freezing cold before, and I know that none of us would let anything bad happen to Wind.” Warriors nodded strongly. 

“We’ll go looking for them when the storm passes.” Warriors promised. 

“Right.” Time confirmed. “For now, I think we should get some sleep.”

“I can take watch.” Hyrule said. 

“Good idea.” Time said. An uncomfortable silence settled over the group as they tried to fall asleep. 

Wind shivered violently against Twilight, who clutched the young hero tighter. He looked at their predicament—hidden behind a rock outcrop to shelter from the wind, his blood staining the snow, his trousers, and said rock—and sighed.

**_15 Minutes Prior_ **

“Can you see anything?” Wind shouted over the howling gales.

“No, not a thing!”

“Sweet mother of—Twi  _ duck _ !” Wind suddenly yelled. Twilight dropped to the snow, feeling something fly over his head. 

“Wolves.” He muttered. “Why did it have to be wolves.” He then raised his voice. “Wind, stay close to me but get your sword. We’re going to need to fend them off!”

“Got it!” Wind responded. The two heroes stood back to back, swords held in front of them. A wolf leapt out of the snowstorm, and Wind pushed it back. Then one leapt at Twilight, who repelled it. This leap-and-repel continued for another four or five wolves, before one caught Twilight off-guard. It sunk its teeth into his leg, causing him to cry out in pain. This alerted Wind, who turned and dispatched the wolf. There was an agonizing pause before they decided there weren’t any more wolves hidden behind the curtains of snow, and Wind looked at Twilight.

“It bit you, are you alright?” 

“I’m fine.” Twilight said, reaching down and placing a hand over the wound. His hand came away slick with bright red blood. “Or maybe not. Do you have a Red Potion?”   
“No, nothing.” Wind said, voice frantic as he rummaged through his pack. “Crap.”

“It’s okay, I’ll be alright until we reach a refuge. I’m sure Wild knows where one is.”

“Wait, Twi, why didn’t Wild and the others help us with the wolves?” Wind asked, feeling dread settle in his stomach. 

“I… Oh no.” Twilight said, paling. “We got separated from them, didn’t we.”

“We must have.” Wind said. He began to panic, though he did a good job of hiding it. “Well, I’ve heard the best thing to do when you’re lost is to stay put!”

“We can’t exactly  _ do _ that, Wind.” Twilight said, almost snapped. Wind paused, shocked. Twilight seemed to be much more nervous about being lost than Wind was. 

“Okay, I suppose we can’t.” He said. “We need to shelter somewhere… how about over there?” Wind pointed, and in the distance, there was a barely visible chunk of rock. “We can wait for them there.” 

“Alright.” Twilight said uncertainly. Wind began walking through the snow (knee deep snow), Twilight limping after him.

**_Present Time_ **

Wind shifted, opening his eyes and looking up at Twilight. 

“They’ll find us, won’t they?” He said in a small voice; a voice Twilight had never heard Wind use.

“I’m sure they will.” Twilight said, praying to whatever goddess was listening that his voice didn’t betray the amount of fear he felt. “As soon as this blizzard ends, I’m sure they’ll come running.” Wind smiled, then shivered again.

“ ‘m cold.” He murmured. Twilight felt another stab of fear go through his chest, accompanied by a bolt of pain from his leg. Unclipping his wolf pelt, he wrapped it around Wind. Wind looked up at him. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Wind.” Twilight resisted the urge to brush the younger’s blond hair out of his face.  _ Please hurry, Time.  _ He thought.  _ Wind won’t last forever.  _

Twilight shivered.

_ Neither will I.  _

“Six hours, Time.” Wild said, biting his fingernails. “This Naydra-forsaken storm has lasted  _ six hours _ .” 

“I know.” Time said, sounding as nervous as Wild felt. 

“If it doesn’t end soon, I’m going alone.” Wild declared. 

“Alone with me.” Sky said. Wild gave him a thankful smile. 

“That won’t be necessary!” Hyrule shouted from the entrance of the cave. “The blizzard’s over!”   
“Finally!” Legend exclaimed. He’d been hiding his concern for Twilight and Wind, but the past six hours of waiting had taken a toll on everyone. Wild ran out of the cave, not waiting for the others to catch up—this prompted cursing from Warriors and Legend. 

“Wait!” Sky called. “How are we going to find them? The blizzard covered up our tracks.” 

“Not a problem.” Wild said. “My Slate can show us our path, we just have to backtrack until we come across something.” Without further ado, Wild turned around and began jogging through the snow, his friends trailing behind him. 

Twilight had no idea how long he and Wind had been sitting in the snow; it had been long enough for him to lose feeling in his fingers, and for his blood to turn his pant leg black. 

Twilight was scared. For himself and for Wind.

Wind moved against him, mumbling something. The sailor’s nose was turning purple-black; Twilight’s nose and fingers were doing the same. He’d contemplated turning into Wolfie, but had decided against it—the strain would probably make his wound worse. 

Twilight curled further around Wind, determined to keep the boy alive.

Even if it killed him. 

“Wild!” Sky yelled. “I found something!” Wild ran over to Sky.

“What?”   
“There!” Sky pointed. Wild looked, seeing wolf carcasses strewn about in the snow a little ways off.

“Good eye, Sky!” Wild exclaimed, chuckling at the rhyme. “Guys! Over here!” He shouted, catching the other’s attention. They quickly made their way to Sky and Wild, who pointed out the wolves. 

Upon arriving at the corpses, no immediate evidence of Twilight or Wind was found, besides the obvious fact that they’d killed the wolves.

“Twilight!” Warriors shouted. “Wind! You guys out there?”

“Hello?” Someone shouted back.

“Wind! Wind, don’t move!” Warriors yelled with a smile. “We’re coming to get you!”

“Hurry!” Wind responded. Time and Wild gave each other worried looks. 

After another 15 minutes of searching and ‘Marco-Poloing’, they found Twilight and Wind. The latter was frantically shaking the former’s shoulders and shouting fruitlessly—Twilight laid limp against the rock.

“Wind!” Warriors exclaimed, sweeping up the young boy in an embrace. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

“Hey, you don’t have that little faith in me, do you?” Wind teased. His expression became serious quickly, however. “Twilight needs help.” 

“You do too, kid.” Time pointed out, gesturing to Wind’s frostbitten nose. 

“Not as much.” Wind retorted.

“Bull crap.” Legend said, shoving his Fire Rod into Wind’s hands. Wind sighed.

“That actually feels great, thanks Legend.” 

“You’re welcome.” Legend said with a smug look on his face. “Now, tell us what happened.” Wind’s face fell.

“We got attacked by some wolves, and we mostly fended them off, but then one of them bit Twilight on the leg. And I didn’t have a Red Potion or anything, because I’m an idiot—” Wind paused, taking a deep breath, “We found shelter, and we were just kinda sitting here and I got really cold ,so Twi gave me his pelt—which helped a lot, so I fell asleep, and when I woke up…” Wind stopped talking, giving a head jerk towards Twilight. Legend and Time looked at each other with worry,

“Wind.” Legend said. “This is not your fault. You couldn’t have known there were wolves. Twilight’s a tough guy, heck, he might even be tougher than Scarf Boy.”

“I heard that!” Warriors said. 

“Point is, Twilight will pull through.”

“Do you promise?” Wind said, suddenly fierce. “Do you  _ promise _ Twi will be okay?” Legend sighed. 

“No.” He said. “I can’t promise he’ll survive. But I can promise we’re going to do everything we can to make sure he survives. For now, I want you to focus on keeping warm.” 

“Okay.” Wind said, casting another look at Twilight’s prone form—Wild and Time were currently attending to the fur-clad boy. With a huff, Wind sat in the snow, clutching the Fire Rod tightly. Sky sat next to him and tried to strike up a conversation.

“Twi, please.” Wild was saying, shaking Twilight’s shoulders. “Wake up.” Twilight gave no response, his head lolling on his shoulders. It revealed that the tips of his pointed ears were the same frostbitten color as his nose and fingers. 

“Pup.” Time said quietly. He cradled Twilight’s face in his hands. “Come back to us, we can’t go on without you.” Time looked like he was going to say something else, but his voice failed him. He lowered his head, shoulders shaking. 

“Mmm…” Twilight groaned. He blinked open his eyes, though they were glazed with fever. He looked at Time and Wild, then cocked his head. “R-Rusl?” Time’s expression crumbled. 

“No, Twilight, it’s Time.”

“Oh.” Twilight said. He seemed strangely disappointed. After an agonizing pause, Twilight blinked again, appearing to realize where he was. “Oh, Time, I’m so happy to s-see you.” He leaned forwards, wrapping his arms around his mentor. “I thought I was g-going to die…” He mumbled, voice thick with tears. 

“Well, you’re not out of the woods yet.” Warriors interrupted, ignoring the dirty look both Wild and Wind gave him. “We need to get you back to the cave so you can warm up.” 

“I hate to ask this of you, Pup,” Time began, “But we can’t carry you. You’re going to have to walk.” Twilight winced.

“Alright, then help m-me up—”

“Not so fast!” Hyrule said. He held up a roll of bandages. “We’re fixing that wolf bite first.” He knelt in the snow, tightly wrapping Twilight’s wound (which prompted some groaning from the older boy). “There.” Hyrule loosely flicked a hand at Time and Wild. “Go ahead.” Time and Wild pulled Twilight to his feet, but he immediately stumbled back into the snow. “Sure is c-cold out here. T-try again.” This time, Warriors helped, and Twilight was able to stay on his feet—albeit by leaning on his mentor and protegé for support.

“We’re about an hour away from the cave.” Wild said with a worried tone. “You think you can make it?”   
“I’ll have to.” Twilight said, expression grim. 

“Only 30 more minutes, hang in there Twi.” Wild said, voice and face panicked. Twilight nodded limply, head drooping. The trek to the cave had made his leg wound worse, and a trail of blood now accompanied the heroes’ footprints in the snow.

“Can’t we go any faster?” Legend asked. The usually snarky hero was beginning to sound worried.

“No, we can’t.” Time said. “Twilight can’t.” 

“S… sorry.” Twilight said breathlessly, raising his head and trying to look apologetic. 

“It’s okay, Twi.” Sky said. “You’re doing the best you can.” 

“ ‘s not… okay. I was c-clumsy.” Twilight replied. He coughed. 

“You couldn’t have known about the wolves.”

“… should’ve.”

“Stop arguing.” Four suddenly said. “Twilight, you did nothing wrong. Let’s just keep going.” 

“We made it!” Wild announced. He and Time helped Twilight inside, and the Orodonian collapsed against the cave wall.

“Thank you.” He said, closing his eyes. Hyrule quickly clapped his hands.

“No falling asleep, it’s not safe.” He said. Twilight opened his eyes and sighed. 

“Does anyone have any Potions or Fairies?” Hyrule asked, looking at his friends. They all shook their heads, save for Legend.

“I have one Red Potion.” He held up the jar. Hyrule snatched it from him, handing it to Twilight. 

“Drink this. The whole thing.” Twilight looked at the Potion with disdain, though he swallowed it anyways.

“Disgusting.” 

“I know. Hyrule responded. “Now sit still, I’m going to heal what I can.” Hyrule’s hand gained their magical pink glow. He set to work healing Twilight, though he was only able to fix a little before he had to stop. 

“Th… Thank you.” Twilight said with an exhausted smile. “I’m… sleep now.” He closed his eyes again, leaning back against the cave wall. His breathing quickly evened out, signaling the dive into sleep. 

“Is it safe to let him sleep?” Warriors asked.

“It should be, as long as we keep an eye on him.” Hyrule said.

“Me and Wild can.” Time said. 

“Yeah.” Wild agreed. “Thank you, Hyrule.” Hyrule blushed.

“I’m the healer, it’s my job.” He said in an attempt to brush off his actions.

“Oh, quit it, ‘Rule.” Legend said. “You did good.” 

“Thanks.” Hyrule said with a smile. “Wind, I know we’ve sorta been ignoring you; you’re not hurt, right?”

“No, just cold.” Wind said. “But the pelt and this cave have helped with that.”

“Good.” Warriors said, ruffling Wind’s hair.”

“I think it’s time we all go to bed.” Four said. “We’ll need to rotate watch—”

“Me and Wild will start.” Time said, accompanied by a nod from Wild.

“Sounds good.”

Twilight awoke in the afternoon of the next day, his leg throbbing and his head feeling like it was stuffed with cotton. He groaned, rubbing his eyes. The voices of his friends reached his ears as his consciousness returned:

“—we can’t move, Twi can’t handle it!” Wild was shouting.

“Well if we don’t, we’re just going to starve! Or freeze! Or die in any other number of unpleasant ways!” Warriors retorted. 

“No, we won’t! We’re probably going to Switch soon, why don’t we just wait for that!” Wild demanded.

“I don’t want to wait for that, I’m sick of being stuck in this cave! This is all your fault anyways, Wild! If your stupid Slate hadn’t lost its signal, we wouldn’t have gotten lost, and we wouldn’t have gotten separated from Twi and Wind! And Twi wouldn’t be dying in front of you!” Warriors shouted. He immediately slapped a hand over his mouth. Wild was frozen, staring at Warriors. Tears were welling up in his eyes. He raised his hand, as if to slap Warriors across the face, but lowered it. Wild spun, blonde hair swishing, and ran from the cave with a sob. Legend roughly shoved him.

“Nice going, scarfed idiot. Now our navigator is gone.”

“I… I didn’t mean it.” Warriors said. He shook his head, sinking to the floor. “Sweet Hylia…”

“Guys?” Twilight said, his words slightly slurred. “What just… happened?”   
“Warriors scared Wild away.” Legend said with a glare towards the blonde hero. Warriors flinched. 

“I didn’t mean to.” Warriors muttered.

“Scared him… away? We h-have to go after him!” Twilight exclaimed. He pushed himself to his feet, only to cry out and fall back down when his leg injury reminded him that it was there. It was reopened by the sudden movement, and blood began to soak his trousers again. Warriors cursed. 

“Wake up Hyrule.” He said to Legend, moving to help Twilight stop the bleeding. 

“You do it.” Legend snapped. “You scared Wild—”

“ _ Now _ , Legend!” Warriors yelled. Legend hesitated not a moment longer, completely unused to Warriors yelling at him. He shook Hyrule’s shoulders, returning the brunette to the land of the living. Hyrule immediately locked on to Twilight and ran to the older boy’s side, taking out yet another roll of bandages. 

“Warriors, help me apply pressure.” Hyrule said curtly. Warriors ran over to Twilight, using his beloved scarf to staunch the flow of blood. They managed to stop it and they rewrapped the wound, leaving Twilight panting heavily as he leaned against the cave wall. 

“T-thanks.” He said. Hyrule nodded. “Now, we need to go find Wild.”

“No.  _ I  _ need to go find Wild.” Warriors said. “You’re staying right here, Farm Boy.”

“But I can help!”

“You can’t.” Hyrule deadpanned. “Standing up just tore your leg open; you’re in no shape to be going on rescue missions. I’ll get Time to go with Warriors.” Hyrule shook the older hero awake, and his stirring woke the rest of the heroes. Hyrule quickly informed them of the situation, and Time stood. 

“Let’s go, Captain.” He said as he put his sword on his back. Warriors nodded with a determined expression. As they walked past Twilight, Time leaned down. 

“We’ll come back. Promise.” He said. Twilight nodded. The two heroes left, and Twilight sighed.  _ Be safe.  _

When Time and Warriors had stumbled upon Wild, curled up in the snow and sobbing, Time’s first reaction was to punch Warriors in the face for making the Champion cry like that. Though, when he turned to Warriors and saw the other’s expression, he realized it would only increase the Captain’s guilt. 

“Wild.” Time said, kneeling in the snow and ignoring the cold seeping through his pants. Wild made no indication that he’d heard Time. “Wild, it’s not your fault.”

“Y-yes it i-is.” Wild choked out. 

“No it isn’t.” Warriors said, sitting beside Time. “I lost my temper. You were doing all you could to keep us all safe.” Wild looked up through a mess of tears and blonde hair, locking eyes with Warriors. He still didn’t say anything. 

“Twilight is okay.” Time said softly. Wild’s gaze snapped to him. 

“Are you s-sure?” 

“As sure as I can be. He was worried about you, Wild.”

“Please, Wild.” Warriors said. “I’m sorry.” Wild rubbed his nose, sitting up and brushing chunks of snow from his hair. 

“Fine. I’m p-probably going to catch a cold if I s-stay out here much longer, and then Twi would k-kill me.” He allowed himself to be helped up by Time, and Warriors patted his back. 

“Thank you.” The scarfed hero said, with a sincere smile. Wild nodded, pulling his hood up over his face. 

Twilight stopped gnawing his fingernails into nonexistence when Wild walked back into the cave with a slightly sheepish expression. He moved to stand, but stopped when Hyrule gave him a glare. Without a word, Wild knelt beside his mentor and hugged him tightly. 

“I’m so sorry for getting you into this mess.” He murmured into Twilight’s fur pelt. 

“It’s okay.” Twilight said, patting Wild’s back. 

And it was okay. 


End file.
